Portret van G.J. Brinkman 1916

Lodewijk Schelfhout etched this portrait of G.J. Brinkman in 1916, pulling the print in monochrome. I imagine him hunched over his plate, building up the image from a mesh of tiny lines, each one a little decision, a little correction. Look at the way the lines thicken to describe the deep shadows under the sitter’s brow, or how they soften and blur to give the impression of light reflecting off his glasses. You know, I bet Schelfhout was thinking about Rembrandt, and those incredible portraits, lit from within. This is more than just a likeness; it's a conversation across time, a painter responding to a painter, each finding new ways to capture the elusive essence of a human being through marks on a surface. And now, we’re part of that conversation too, thinking and feeling along with them.